The Year in Health: What We Learned

Rethinking testosterone

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Prescriptions for testosterone jumped threefold in a decade, raising the question: Are men being overtreated? A study in the 'Journal of the American Medical Association,' appears to answer that with an unequivocal yes, noting that marketing – promising bigger muscles and a youthful libido – is largely responsible for the fact that 25 percent of guys are treated without getting tested. A recent study also found that the therapy can raise the chance of heart attack, stroke, or death by 30 percent. Unless someone shows dangerously low numbers and symptoms, supplements may not make sense at all. "Some men may live at what would be considered a low level, whereas others need higher levels," says Dr. Gregory Bernstein, of Virginia Hospital Center. "But we don't know what truly is normal."